<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Interview by Muffinpughugs</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24939175">The Interview</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muffinpughugs/pseuds/Muffinpughugs'>Muffinpughugs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Childhood Heroes, College, Essays, Fluff, Interviews, M/M, Mark Zuckerberg is Dirk's Childhood Hero, Mark Zuckerberg isn't a shitty person, Pining, class projects</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:27:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,157</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24939175</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muffinpughugs/pseuds/Muffinpughugs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Dirk Strider, a student at a prestigious university, is assigned an essay to be written about a childhood hero. Somehow, Dirk ends up with an interview with Mark Zuckerberg himself. This ends up in gay panic, as per usual.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dirk Strider/Mark Zuckerberg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Introduction</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written as a joke but it sounds serious so just. Stay with me. Please. I promise its bearable to read.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dirk packed up his duffel bag, shoving his laptop and his textbooks into it, zipping it shut. He stood up, pocketed his phone, and walked out of the lecture hall. His class ended a few minutes ago, but he had to stay behind and finish noting what was on the board. It was important to him. It was his chance.</p><p>Dirk’s teacher assigned his students an essay on important childhood figures from their time as a kid, and as a part of this essay, the students were encouraged to get interviews from the figures and from people associated with those figures. Many of the other students in Dirk’s class had chosen less prominent figures, as it was difficult to get a hold of more famous celebrities such as Lebron James or Kim Kardashian, just to name a few. Many of them had chosen easier to reach alternatives, such as small business owners from their hometown, or a specific childhood teacher. Dirk didn’t have many figures from his childhood he looked up to, especially not ones from his home life. Honestly? He was happy to get out of his home situation and into a fitting college, even if only for a few semesters. He was happy with his arrangement nonetheless. But because of how his childhood went, he always had high expectations for himself, and he was always looking to impress. </p><p>That is where this essay came along. </p><p>Dirk had always found himself looking up to strange figures in his life. Whether it was the latest winner of Battle Bots, or the man who worked in the mechanics shop downtown that offered to give Dirk a few spare scraps for his own personal creations. The list ranged wildly, and fluctuated between interests often. However, Dirk always had one person in particular whose influence stuck with him throughout his childhood and adolescent years.</p><p>Mark Zuckerberg.</p><p>It was a big cliche, and Dirk knew it. His childhood hero was a self made technological genius of an entrepreneur, who took a risk, and it paid off big time. Dirk saw himself in him, in a way. But Dirk also saw a different side of Mr. Zuckerberg that he doubts a lot of other people see. Dirk saw the glint of passion that lit up behind his ocean blue eyes, and the smirk on his face that slid into the heart of Dirk. Not to mention those hips, goddamn the man had cake. It wasn’t always like this, he knew that. It was just that Dirk couldn’t look at him the same way after he realized how attractive he had really found the man.</p><p>No need to think about Mr. Zuckerberg now, he thought. He had only just sent an email to the company explaining his situation. Dirk was a college student at a fairly prestigious school, so he hoped that his email would at least gain some traction, maybe an interview with an assistant? Or maybe someone a little further down the ladder? Who knows. All he knew as he walked across campus was that he wouldn’t be getting much sleep for the next few nights.</p><p>Later that evening, Dirk sat in his dorm room, scrolling aimlessly through tumblr with no coherent thoughts in his mind. It was a Friday, so there was no class for him tomorrow. He would be free to do whatever he felt like doing, and what he felt like doing was scrolling mindlessly through tumblr, eating every item of snack food within reach, and refreshing his email every five minutes. It would be an easy, laid back day. </p><p>A ping came from his laptop. There was a new email in his inbox. Dirk nearly flipped his laptop over in excitement as he switched tabs and read the subject of the email:</p><p>“RE: Interview Request for University Essay”</p><p>Well damn. They replied much quicker than he thought they would. Dirk excitedly clicked on the email, and skimmed through each line, before going back to read it a second time to see what it actually meant. </p><p>“Mr. Strider,</p><p>	Thank you for reaching out to us! Your interest and investment in our company is much appreciated, and we hope you are well. We have read through your request carefully, and we would once again like to thank you for your intrigue. We do not receive very many emails like these, and we are very flattered here at Facebook to see that you take such an interest in our company, especially to the degree of having our CEO being your childhood hero. As for your interview, there will need to be terms you agree to and precautions to be followed in regards to the safety and integrity of our company, and the university you attend. However, that being said, as of right now, you have an interview booked with Mark Zuckerberg. The details of this interview will be explained in the following email that you are to receive following this one.</p><p>Thank you for your interest, and best of luck on your interview!</p><p> </p><p>					~ A Facebook Intern”</p><p>Dirk sat in silence for a moment, staring at his laptop in bewilderment and confusion. A million thoughts and questions rushed through his head, and stopping them at this point would be like trying to stop a tidal wave. But one thing was for certain. Dirk had just gotten an interview with none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself. Yeah, there were some terms and conditions (pun intended), but nothing could stop him at this point. He was all powerful, he was a god among students, he was the guy who had an interview with his childhood hero. </p><p>Dirk quickly starred the email, and clicked out to see the following email that had been mentioned in what the intern had just sent him. He clicked on the email</p><p>“Mr Strider,</p><p>	Thank you for reaching out to us! Your interest and investment in our company is much appreciated, and we hope you are well.-”</p><p>There was that line again. How ironic. I bet the intern put so much work into this.</p><p>“We want to ensure that there is no confusion for you when you receive this email, so be sure that you read this email after you read the first email, the one in reply to your request.”</p><p>Yeah, yeah. Been there done that twice now. What else is in here?</p><p>“There are a couple options for the specific date and time that the interview can take place. It will undoubtedly occur somewhere on campus, likely in building C-3, where most of the news outlets come and take interviews of students. We figured it would be less of a hassle for you to stay on campus rather than fly out to us.”</p><p>How thoughtful, unlike the first few sentences.</p><p>“As for times, the available times would be the following Tuesday, November 10 from 1pm to 2pm, or Thursday November 12 from 3pm to 4pm. Thank you once again for your cooperation. We anticipate your reply.”</p><p>Okay, cool. Dirk thought to himself for a moment. Tuesday would be the preferable day, seeing as he had class pretty early on Thursday and nothing really on Tuesday. That would be alright! </p><p>Dirk continued skimming the email, most of it was boring stuff about safety precautions, no photography, he could record only if needed, whatever. It was pretty boring, and he was hungry. He’d read over it more carefully tomorrow, but for now? It was time to eat that leftover takeout and ponder existence while watching some random netflix documentary. And maybe think about Mr. Zuckerberg. Just a little.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Waiting</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dirk recieves a phone call from the intern the day before the interview. And then an email.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I want to gently remind you that this was written as a joke and then I started taking it seriously and I personally promise you that this is all in good fun.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air was chilly, the autumn wind rustled through the trees along the paved concrete roads of the campus and through Dirk's hair. He shuffled along the road back to his dorm room, the crunch of the leaves under his feet soothing his nerves. Tomorrow was the day of the long awaited interview. He had been waiting for about a week to be able to finally interview his hero, Mark Zuckerberg, who he had been infatuated with since childhood... for the most part, at least. His creations and his brain, they were so perfect and intelligent. Dirk could only ever aspire to be like him. So, for his school project, he chose to interview his childhood role model, as it had been one of his greatest fantasies since he was a boy. Nothing could get in his way of his dream, now! Nothing cou-</p><p>Dirk's phone rang in his pocket. He ripped it out, and looked at the Caller ID. It looked familiar, so he answered.</p><p>"Hello?" Dirk asked the person on the end of the line.</p><p>"Hello! Have I reached Dirk Strider?" The person asked.</p><p>"This is he," Dirk responded.</p><p>"Great! I needed to call you because there's been something that's come up, and I'm afraid we'll have to cancel your interview." Dirk's heart dropped, he stopped in his tracks. "Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause, Mx. Strider. If you need to get back to us for any reason, our email is always avaliable. We usually don't make calls like this, but we felt as if it was important to get in touch with you personally. Thank you for your understanding." The caller hung up, not giving a chance for Dirk to respond.</p><p>Dirk stood there for a second, staring at the black screen of his phone, before pinching the bridge of his nose, looking up at the cold blue sky. Really? He really did have the worst of luck, didn't he? He had been looking forward to this all week, it was almost all he thought about, and now it was gone? Shit. What was he going to do for his project? A week had already gone by, most people probably already had at least something! He needed to take a breather. Dirk fished his headphones out of his pocket, connected to his bluetooth, and continued his journey to his dorm room with the beat and tune of his music punctuated in his steps, the crackling of the leaves and the breeze in his hair soon forgotten underneath a layer of music.</p><p>In his dorm room, Dirk walked over to his small, twin sized bed, and fell onto it, avoiding his laptop by the end of the bed. He sighed deeply into the mattress and laid still for a few moments, before sitting up, grabbing his laptop, and laying back into his pillows that were squished against the wall, not unlike a chair. He flipped open his laptop, disconnecting his music and pulling up youtube. He scrolled a little while, switching tabs from Twitter to Tumblr and back to Youtube. He pulled up a let's play of some random game from a youtuber he didn't even watch regularly, before promptly passing out.</p><p>
  <i>Dirk grabbed Mark's hand, and words of love fell from his lips. Mark paused for a moment, before leaning back in his set chair. He grabbed his clipboard and stood up in front of Dirk, a good few inches taller than him. Mark placed his hand on Dirk's shoulder, though the touch was nothing more than static. Dirk's heart sped up.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>"Listen, Dirk," Mark began to speak, glancing sideways out of the corner of his eye, ensuring they were alone on the dark set. "I don't have much time, but I do want you to know this," Mark leaned in closer to Dirk, pupils dialated more than they should be in the dark atmosphere of the set. "I love you too." Mark's lips brushed against Dirk's, tasting faintly of expensive coffee and peppermint. Dirk leaned into the kiss, folding his arms over Mr. Zuckerberg's shoulders, falling deeper into his grasp. Mark gripped Dirk's shoulders and snuck his hands down Dirk's back, trailing over his ass, slowly-</i>
</p><p>Dirk woke up with a start, face flushed. He internally face palmed. God fucking damnit! Why were his dreams so weird and vivid? He sighed, looking down at his laptop. He saw that he had a new email. Great, probably spam or something. Might as well delete it, otherwise it'll clog up his inbox.</p><p>He moved his cursor over to where his email was located, and clicked. He nearly jumped at what he saw.</p><p>"Mark Zuckerberg     Interview Updates: Mx Strider, It appears that recently y..."</p><p>Holy shit. Like, was that him? Was that actually Mark Zuckerberg? Like, the real Mark Zuckerberg? Emailing Dirk Strider? Oh my god. Dirk quickly clicked on the email, which read as follows,</p><p>"Mx Strider,</p><p>     It appears that recently you applied to have an interview done with me for a semester project for your university. My intern should have called you within the past few hours regarding the cancellation of aforementioned interview, which was scheduled to occur tomorrow, Tuesday November 10th, from 1pm to 2pm. I emailed you to let you know that despite what you may think, the interview was cancelled for my safety. We do not normally accept interviews from novices and/or students for the integrity of the company, and for my safety seeing as there are bound to be a select few people with ulterior motives when it comes to my interviews. I, however, did some research into your university and on your portfolio, and determined that you do not have any ulterior motives, and strike me as someone very familiar. You remind me of myself, Mx. Strider. I see a lot of myself in your work, and I see a passion that cannot be ebbed. Your intellect is strong and your work that shows for it is even stronger. </p><p>In short, I would like to schedule a 'personal' interview with you, Mx. Strider. There will be no need for extra safety precautions, I trust you to do what is right. I see myself in you, and I see a young and intelligent individual who will make the world a better place. </p><p>As for the location and time of your interview, are you still open tomorrow? If so, I would love to meet you at the same time before listed (1pm-2pm) at the Rise and Shine Cafe. It's located close to your university, within walking distance. Those are slow hours, so I trust that we won't be interrupted. Please reply as soon as you can if you still have an interest in your personal interview with me!</p><p>- Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook"</p><p>Dirk was shaking from excitement. Did his childhood hero just invite him for coffee? What did he mean by a 'personal' interview? 'Won't be interrupted'? Dirk quickly typed up a response to his email, and hit send. He would be meeting his childhood hero tomorrow. He would be living his dream tomorrow.</p><p>Tomorrow, he was getting coffee with the man he couldn't get out of his head.</p><p>Dirk Strider had some luck.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Interview</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Calm down, Strider. Interview time!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dirk woke up with a start and nearly ran out of bed with sheer excitement. Today was the day he had been waiting for, today was the day that he was going to meet his childhood hero. Today, he was going to meet Mark Zuckerberg.</p><p>Dirk checked his phone, it was 11:32 am. He was a late sleeper, for the most part, so that was expected. But that meant he didn't have much time to get ready. He unplugged his phone from the charger. He walked over to his dresser and dug through his piles of clothes to find a suitable outfit. Not one too fancy as to draw attention, he would only be going to a coffee shop. But then again, he was going to meet his childhood hero, so he couldn't look too frumpish. Dirk sighed and decided on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve vintage esque decal shirt, and a bowling shirt. He looked just gay enough. Dirk grabbed his comb off the dressed along with a brown leather belt and his shades. He folded up his clothes and placed them on his bed, heading to his mini-dorm-bathroom to brush his teeth and grab some shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. He grabbed his clothes back off of his bed, and headed off to the community showers.</p><p>The water cascaded around him, as he lathered up his body with tangerine and vanilla scented body wash, the steam fogging up the shower. His head wandered, and he found himself thinking about the interview. How was it going to go? Was Mr. Zuckerberg going to like him? What if he came off as too pretentious, or too weird? There were so many things that could go wrong here, too many to even think about. Dirk ran his hands though his hair and took a deep breath. No need to get worked up now. It's just an interview, right? Nothing more. </p><p>But his mind still wandered, and wandered to an arguably worse place. What if the interview went well? Not in that way. What if the interview went... really... really well? What if Mr. Zuckerberg would want to see him again? What if he met with Mr. Zuckerberg, what if they became friends? What if they became more than just friends? What if the whole idea of an interview wasn't even an interview anymore, but rather, a date? What if Mr. Zuckerberg had ulterior motives for Dirk? What if they fell in love? What if this was the first part of a long and perilous journey of two star crossed, technologically brilliant lovers? Dirk sighed to himself. None of this would ever realistically happen. Why would it? Mark Zuckerberg was probably one of the straightest people to ever grace the earth with his presence. And even if he wasn't, why would he fall in love with a depressed, college aged weirdo like himself? Dirk washed off the soap on his body and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his midsection. Today was going to be interesting.</p><p>He ran his hands through his hair, ensuring he had dried it completely. He squeezed a bit of hair gel onto his fingers and began to spike up his hair to get his perfect, anime hairstyle look. Once he finished, he washed his hands and stood back, checking out his outfit for the day, combat boots, duffel bag, and everything. He looked nice, actually. Not too shabby! Dirk checked the time on his phone. 12:24 pm. He had to get going soon if he wanted to get to the interview on time! He pocketed his phone and walked out the door, turning the lights off as he left and locking the door. Gotta conserve power! </p><p>Walking down the sidewalk of the urban street was calming to him somedays. He felt like he belonged in a bustling city enviroment. Everyone had a place to go, maybe someone or something to come home to. Everyone who walked past him had their own ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. Maybe one day, Dirk would meet someone who was the same. He would meet someone who thought the same way he did. Maybe he would meet them but not realize until years later that they were made for eachother, or maybe they would both realize within seconds. It was a compelling thought, and a thought that drove Dirk to walk a little faster than normal. As excited as he was for this interview, he needed to act calm. The time was 1 pm, and Dirk Strider walked into the coffee shop.</p><p>Around him, there were dim lights, the smell of fresh roast and baked goods wafted through the air. Dirk took a deep breath and looked around the cafe, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest. There he was. Mark Zuckerberg himself. Sitting in the corner of a little local cafe near Dirk's campus. His breath hitched as they met eachother's gaze. For a second, they were both deathly still. Then, Mr. Zuckerberg smiled. Dirk walked over to the table in the corner where he was sitting. Mr. Zuckerberg was the first to speak.</p><p>"So, I take it you're Mx. Strider?" He asked. Dirk nodded in response. </p><p>"That's me! You can call me Dirk, by the way, Mr. Zuckerberg." Dirk responded.</p><p>"In that case, we can drop the formalities and you can call me Mark. Is that alright?" Dirk smiled and nodded before pulling out his notepad. "No need to rush into things, I want to enjoy myself. We can also always schedule another interview if needed, right?" Mark noted. Dirk set the notepad down on the table.</p><p>"Of course." Dirk's heart was beating out of his chest. He looked down at his hands for a moment before he looked back up to Mark. "Is there anything in particular you would like to talk about?" Dirk asked him. Mark sat still for a moment, thinking and looking at Dirk. Was he judging his outfit? He shouldn't have worn his shades. But he doesn't have any colored contacts to wear. He could have work different shades, right? Because right now he looks like a total douche-</p><p>"I'm not sure, actually. I like your glasses, though. They're very angular, I haven't seen any like them before. At least, not in real life. I've seen them in manga and whatnot, I've just never seen a real version." Mark told Dirk. Dirk did a double take. </p><p>"You read manga?" Dirk asked Mark, surprised. Mark chuckled. </p><p>"I do, it's mostly a side hobby though. It's not something I want public, really. That would be embarassing." Mark replied. "Can you do the anime glasses thing where you push up your glasses and it reflects light? I've never tried it personally, and it would be interesting to see if it works." Mark laughed a little bit and Dirk's heart fluttered. Dirk shook his head around a bit to loosen his glasses, then pushed them up with his index finger on the bridge of his nose, glasses glinting slightly in the reflection of the light in the cafe. Mark smiled. "I didn't know people could do that! Even if only a little." Dirk nodded, and internally cheered in success.</p><p>"It only works for me sometimes. Trust me, I've tried it a lot. It depends a lot on the angle and directness of the light source you're trying to reflect, and if you want to shine a lamp in your eye to try it." The two chuckled as the waitress came out from the kitchen and walked up to the table.</p><p>"Can I get you two anything?" Mark gestured for Dirk to order something. Dirk realized he hadn't eaten anything yet today. </p><p>"Could I order an everything bagel, toasted with cream cheese and a cup of coffee?" Dirk asked. The waitress nodded.</p><p>"Sure thing, would you like cream or sugar?" Dirk shook his head.</p><p>"Just black, please. Thank you." The waitress smiled and looked at Mark. She jumped a little bit, before continuing.</p><p>"And for you, sir?" She gestured to Mr. Zuckerberg.</p><p>"I'll have a caramel machiatto, please," He responded. The waitress nodded.</p><p>"I'll be back shortly with your orders!" She turned around and walked back into the kitchen. Dirk cocked his eyebrow.</p><p>"Isn't the coffee machine out here?" He asked to nobody in particular.</p><p>"They have another one in the back," Mark explained, "I wanted to have some extra privacy, so I asked them to use the kitchen one instead." Dirk nodded, shuffling a bit in his chair.</p><p>"So is this really a quiet hour, or did you rent out the place for us?" Mark chuckled.</p><p>"Would it matter either way?" Mark smiled, almost flirtatiously. Dirk felt his heart flutter in his chest. God, why did he have to act like that? Was this a test? Did Zuckerberg do this in his other interviews? </p><p>"Hey, calm down, Dirk. I can tell you're overthinking things. I do the same. It's just a little outing to get to know me. One might call it a date, but with less romantic implications. We're just out here to get to know eachother, for school purposes, of course." Mark trailed off a bit at the end. Dirk's face heated up at Mark's statement.</p><p>"Of course, I just have a lot on my mind, that's all," Dirk explained, sitting back in his chair. Mark drew circles with his finger on the wooden cafe table.</p><p>"Anything in particular bothering you?" Mark asked. Dirk sighed.</p><p>"Not really," Dirk lied, "Just some boring school stuff, money is pretty tight, the usual at this point." Mark nodded along. </p><p>"That's never good! I was in that situation when I was in college. Of course, I dropped out as a sophomore to start my company. It paid off well in the long run, though! Literally and figuratively, in this case." Mark chuckled. "I would only ever do that if you had a solid plan though, just some advice," Mark stated. Dirk nodded.</p><p>"Yeah. If I'm being one hundred percent honest, I don't really have plans for what I'm going to do once I graduate. I could always go into IT, since that pays pretty well these days, and the net worth of IT workers keeps going up and will probably continue going up at this rate. But I'm not sure if that's even what I want to do," Dirk spoke. As he finished, the waitress came back from the kitchen with two drinks and a plate, walking up to their table.</p><p>"Sorry for interrupting, here's your orders! Enjoy!" She walked back towards the kitchen before looking back. "Call for me if you need anything, I'll be in the back listening to some music!" The waitress walked back into the kitchen and out of sight. Dirk tucked a part of his bangs back into place. </p><p>"I wouldn't do anything you're not sure you want to do." Mark leaned in, going into advice giving mode. "It would be devistating to me if I started a career in something I wasn't sure I wanted to do in the first place. You always want to be certain with yourself," Mark explained, looking Dirk into his eyes. Dirk felt a hint of a blush dust his cheeks. "And even if you're not completely sure." Mark placed his hand on Dirk's, which laid on the table. Dirk flinched, surprised, but did not move his hand. "Fake it 'til you make it, right?" Dirk nodded and smiled a bit, the corners of his mouth perking up. Dirk glanced down at Mark's hand, which laid on top of his. It was surprisingly soft, the tips of his fingers slightly calloused from years of work, but it felt... nice. Mark realized where his hand was and took a sharp intake of breath, removing his hand. "Sorry! I got a little carried away in my speech!" Mark shot back in his chair, flustered. Dirk laughed.</p><p>"It's alright, Mark. I didn't mind it." Dirk looked to the side, picking up his coffee and taking a small sip. It was still hot, hot and very strong. Dirk's eyes wandered to the window and looked out upon the city street. Cars drove past, the city bustling and buzzing with electricity in both meanings of the word. Dirk looked back to Mark, who looked thoroughly embarassed. Dirk, in a moment of boldness, flipped his hand over. "You can do it again if you want to." Mark's face turned red as he looked down. Dirk suddenly realized his mistake and sat up. "I- I should probably be going!" Dirk closed his hand, and scooted back, ready to leave. Mark grabbed his hand.</p><p>"Stay a little while longer." Dirk looked back into Mark's eyes, deep and grey, like a storm over an ocean. "We have an interview to conduct, right?" Dirk parted his lips to speak, but closed them, sitting back into his chair. </p><p>"We do. It was my idea, after all." Dirk took another sip of his coffee. "If you hadn't reached out to me, I don't know what I would have done." he spoke. "Speaking of, how did you get my email? I thought the intern was supposed to keep their lips shut about those things?" Dirk questioned. Mark smirked.</p><p>"A true innovator never reveals his secrets." Mark blew on his coffee, taking a drink of it and smacking his lips. "Plus, the interview had to do with me, so I needed to check in with them anyhow. So I got your email from them, indirectly, of course. I couldn't just ask for your email without sounding suspicious, so I took it to memory." Mark described. Dirk made a noise in his throat to express that he was listening. Dirk smiled and took a drink of his coffee.</p><p>"Could you let go of my hand a second? I need to eat my bagel before it gets cold." Dirk laughed, and Mark took his hand off. </p><p>"Whoops, sorry. I forgot you had food." Dirk grinned, grabbing his bagel and taking a bite. Mark pulled out his phone and started typing.</p><p>"You got something you're doing?" Dirk asked between bites. Mark scrolled a second more before replying.</p><p>"Not really, I just need to get my calendar open to plan our next interview." Dirk nearly choked on his cream cheese bagel. What?</p><p>"Next interview?" Dirk asked. Mark smiled.</p><p>"Yes, next interview. You do want to meet me again another time, right? We're almost out of time here anyhow, and we got basically nothing done." Dirk's face heated up. Mark wanted to meet with him again? And well... yeah. He didn't even get to ask any of his interview questions! Oops.</p><p>"Whoops, I guess time went by faster than I thought it would!" Dirk laughed a little, checking the time on his phone, which read 1:58. They had two minutes left. "I would love to see you again, though. Maybe next time I can ask you some real interview questions!" Dirk pulled his walled out of his pocket, to which Mark shook his head.</p><p>"I'm not the poor college student here, Dirk. I'll pay for everything. You shouldn't worry about it," Mark stated. "I've also prepaid for everything, so there is genuinely no need." Mark slid a 20 out from his pocket, placing it on the table. Dirk grabbed his bagel and took one last sip of his now lukewarm coffee. He looked up at Mark, who scooted out from the table and stood up, smiling down at Dirk. Dirk stood up from his chair, and walked out of the cafe besides Mark, who had a car waiting out front for him. Dirk looked at Mark, who looked him back in the eye. </p><p>"So, see you again soon for a second interview?" Dirk asked as Mark stepped into the car.</p><p>"See you again soon for a second date." Mark buckled his seatbelt. "I'll keep in touch!" Mark closed the car door and the car drove off into the city. Dirk took a deep breath of the smoke that filled the urban air, before smiling. </p><p>"See you again soon, Mark."</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>